The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-01-25
THE DAILY
Pacific Commercial Advertiser
Is PUBLISHED
Every Morning Except Sundays.
SUBSCRIPTIONS I:
EMPLOYEES DANGERS.
SOME OF THE HAZARDS TO WHICH
WORKMEN ARE EXPOSED.


Demonstrating and It's Effect Upon the
Bowels - steeI-GriRders and Rheum-
atism-Cement in the Lungs-Perils OF
Cut-GIass-TObaccO-Fe
The sanitary inspector of the New York
board of health has prepared list OF IN
iurieS arising from the inhalation OF dust.
In his report appears the following:
In diamond-cutting the amount of dust
created is small, and yet the occupation
is a very injurious one. The setter" pre-
pares the diamond for the cutter by sol
dering it on the end of copper rod with
an alloy four parts of lead and one of tin.
He does this with a charcoal fire, and is
exposed to great heat as well as poison
Gus gases The settlers suffer from head
ache tinnitus aurium, impaired digestion
and irregularity of the bowels.
FiIe-cutters work with hammer and cold
chisel, holding the blank on the anvil by
g strap passed under the feet, and putting
sand or other dust on the anvil to keep
the iron from slipping They have to
bend over their work, keep the eyes
keenly fixed upon it, are exposed to metal
lie and mineral dust, and, in making
coarse files, to great bodily exertiOn, their
hammers often weighing as much as six
pounds Phthisis is very common among
them.
DUST OF METAL AND STONE
Grinders of steel are also liable tOin-
Jury from flying particles of metal, which
are intensely heated by friction and scat
ter in the form Of sparks, producing occa-
sionaIIy severe burns of the cornea.
Crindstones something's burst when driven
at a very high velocity, and the fragments
crush everything in their path, as they
fly off at tangent. Those who work at
wet grinding, while they are relieved
from the danger of dust, are covered with
the spatterings from the stone, consisting
of maud and water, and so are kept con-
stantlv wet and cold They are
more liable than the others TO
rheumatism, pneumonia and bronchitis
of an acute form, due TO such exposure,
Workmen who make Portland cement
are greatly troubled by the dust caused
by shOveling the mass into sacks, after IL
has been burned and ground. They nave
a persistent cough and eXpectorate little
Jumps of cement. Stone-cuUIerS "oIA
with hammer and chisel, and not only IN
hale considerable dust, but are liable TO
iniurv from the flying chips and oc-
casionaI spar ks from the chiseL. The IN
haIation of dust produces in them fire.
ouently the form of phthisis.
To the chfna-scourers the light flint dust
g a terrible irritant. DR.. Greeuhow states
/.
ticaI The female operatives are paIld
and cblorotic. and their infants are almost
all scrofuIous with an enormous NOR
taIitv The burners are exposed 10 a
temperature of about 104 degrees, and
suffer from sudden changes, which
Droduce acute pulmonary affections, rheu-
nat!sm and gastrO-intestinal disorders
In the manufacture of glass the work
men who grind and powder the silicous
g,g1l
irritating dust, and suffer from constant
hacking cough and cOnjunctivitis. 1t IS
rare 10 find a sound man among them,
and they are not able to continue long at
work
CUT GLASS-TOBACCO-FEAT
But the most dangerous work Is that OF
the grinders and poliShers of cut glass.
About IS per cent. Of them nave chronic
pneurnonia (phthisis) and their average
ace OF death is variously given at from
N TO ~ Years Putegnat (de LunnevllleJ
has described a peculiar form OF
yin0iyfis which ne has observed among
CIIass-cutterS, and which he says attacks
ninetv-five Of every 100 workmen IG at
lacks by preference the upper Jaw ana Is
ACCOMPANIED by the same Dlue me tla'
is fo,Ind i'm cases of blood poisoning. The
acid secretion of the gums destroyes the
enarneI of the teeth, which soon become
pointed brittle, and break off close to the
aIveoli. leaving permanent stump Iht
gums remain soft and spongy.
When persons first begin to work a.
tobacco they almost invariably suffel
from headache and often from nauset
and vomiting. They pass sleepleSs nlghE
and are frequently troubled with dlarrnea
These symptoms are more common II
females than in males, and indicate I
slight degree of poisoning by nicotlne. II
a week or two the symptoms wear away
and in the majority of cases no turtle
trouble is experienced.
The makers of, feather ornaments, wh
are mostly women, inhale more or les
dnst containing particles of feathers Ac
cording to Hirt, the work can only De car
ried ON by any one person for three years a
rho furthest without great impairment o
haalth The lungs ard eyes both saHer
There is hardly a woman VINO aItef ION
amnIovment at the work, does not nav
chronic inflammation OF the eyes
Hair-picking also raisa1 ciouds Oh aus
and keeps the workmen constantly cousn
mo The hairs, moreover, are sCIII' an
Zen inhaled tend to create permanent
irI.itation of the trachea and bronchl,
an brush-nnakers The dressing OF nal
iIIo,,-s ---~44~~-~a4 ate sometime
lri1as rise t. serious disease. The hal
which comes from Siberia and other part
of Russia is particularly dangerous, Vhos
who handle it occasionally contractlh
malignant pustule. Compiled